Armin Gesswein said, “When Christ ascended into heaven all He left behind was a prayer meeting. The early Church didn’t have a prayer meeting; the early Church was the prayer meeting. In fact, in the early Church every Christian was a prayer-meeting Christian.”

Our prayer motivator verse from the Word of God today is John 15:16 which reads: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.”

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Gordon M. Guinness. He said, “How terrible is the cost of robbing God of time for prayer. When we rob God of time for quiet, we are robbing Him of ourselves. It is only in the quiet that we can really know Him and know ourselves, and be sure that we give ourselves back to Him. Oh, for God’s sake, do not risk keeping the windows of Heaven closed by robbing God of time.”

Our prayer motivator passage from the Word of God today is Zechariah 7:2 which reads: “When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the Lord, And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?”

My personal encouragement for you today is this: A Christian cannot have a victorious, overcoming, and vibrant life without prayer. Of course, there are other important things a Christian needs as well such as the Word of God, the local church, and fellowship with other believers. But if we are to be successful in all of these areas, we must undergird these things with prayer.

Our prayer motivator devotional today is titled “PRAYER AND THE WORD OF GOD” part 3 from the book, “Necessity of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds. And, I want to remind you to take advantage of our special offer. If you enjoy this podcast, please feel free to purchase a copy of the book that we are using in this podcast — “Necessity of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds. The Lord used the writings of E.M. Bounds to teach me the power of prayer when I was a young Christian, and I assure you that his writings will be a blessing to your life as well. The book is available on our website for just $15. You can make your purchase today at PrayerMD.com or PrayerMotivatorDevotional.com.

E.M. Bounds goes on to say:

The Word of God is made effectual and operative, by the process and practice of prayer. The Word of the Lord came to Elijah, “Go show thyself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.” Elijah showed himself to Ahab; but the answer to his prayer did not come, until he had pressed his fiery prayer upon the Lord seven times.

Paul had the definite promise from Christ, that he “would be delivered from the people and the Gentiles,” but we find him exhorting the Romans in the urgent and solemn manner concerning this very matter:

“Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints.”

The Word of God is a great help in prayer. If it be lodged and written in our hearts, it will form an outflowing current of prayer, full and irresistible. Promises, stored in the heart, are to be the fuel from which prayer receives life and warmth, just as the coal, stored in the earth, ministers to our comfort on stormy days and wintry nights. The Word of God is the food, by which prayer is nourished and made strong. Prayer, like man, cannot live by bread alone, “but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord.”

Unless the vital forces of prayer are supplied by God’s Word, prayer, though earnest, even vociferous, in its urgency, is, in reality, flabby, and vapid, and void. The absence of vital force in praying, can be traced to the absence of a constant supply of God’s Word, to repair the waste, and renew the life. He who would learn to pray well, must first study God’s Word, and store it in his memory and thought.

John R. Mott said, “We fail to prevail with unconverted men because of our more fundamental failure to prevail with God in prayer.”

Our prayer motivator verse from the Word of God today is Luke 18:1 which says: “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Grant von Harrison. He said, “Pure motives are prerequisite to the ability to call down the powers of heaven. The Lord will not sustain your efforts to achieve, excel or receive special blessings if your desires are vain.”

Our prayer motivator passage from the Word of God today is Habakkuk 3:2 which reads: “O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.”

Our featured prayer motivator quote is from J.D. Greear. He said, “What would your prayers look like if you believed that the cross really was the measure of God’s compassion for someone?”

My personal encouragement for you today is this: It is a crime for a man to leave his wife and children in the morning without spending serious time with them in prayer. Sir, the greatest thing that you can do for your family is make it your business to pray with them each day, preferably early in the morning, but any time of the day will work. In the spirit of Nike, “Just Do It!”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is titled “PRAYER AND THE WORD OF GOD” part 2 from the book, “Necessity of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds.

In many of its aspects, prayer is dependent upon the Word of God. Jesus says: “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

The Word of God is the fulcrum upon which the lever of prayer is placed, and by which things are mightily moved. God has committed Himself, His purpose and His promise to prayer. His Word becomes the basis, the inspiration of our praying, and there are circumstances under which, by importunate prayer, we may obtain an addition, or an enlargement of His promises. It is said of the old saints that they, “through faith obtained promises.” There would seem to be in prayer the capacity for going even beyond the Word, of getting even beyond His promise, into the very presence of God, Himself.

Jacob wrestled, not so much with a promise, as with the Promiser. We must take hold of the Promiser, lest the promise prove nugatory. Prayer may well be defined as that force which vitalizes and energizes the Word of God, by taking hold of God, Himself. By taking hold of the Promiser, prayer reissues, and makes personal the promise. “There is none that stirreth up himself to take hold of Me,” is God’s sad lament. “Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me,” is God’s recipe for prayer.

By Scriptural warrant, prayer may be divided into the petition of faith and that of submission. The prayer of faith is based on the written Word, for “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” It receives its answer, inevitably — the very thing for which it prays.

The prayer of submission is without a definite word of promise, so to speak, but takes hold of God with a lowly and contrite spirit, and asks and pleads with Him, for that which the soul desires. Abraham had no definite promise that God would spare Sodom. Moses had no definite promise that God would spare Israel; on the contrary, there was the declaration of His wrath, and of His purpose to destroy. But the devoted leader gained his plea with God, when he interceded for the Israelites with incessant prayers and many tears. Daniel had no definite promise that God would reveal to him the meaning of the king’s dream, but he prayed specifically, and God answered definitely.

Our prayer motivator passage from the Word of God today is Habakkuk 3:2 which reads: “O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.”

Our featured prayer motivator quote is from Ole Hallesby. He said, “Nothing makes us so bold in prayer as when we can look into the eye of God and say to Him, “Thou knowest that I am not praying for personal advantage, nor to avoid hardship, nor that my own will in any way should be done, but only for this, that Thy name might be glorified.”

My personal encouragement for you today is this: You can pray to God anytime and anywhere. God will help you to pray with your family every day. I know He will, because in over twenty-five years of marriage, I have never missed a day in prayer and family devotions with my own family, and it is the single most important reason why we are still together and thriving in the work of the Lord. Prayer is where the power is.

Our prayer motivator devotional today is titled “PRAYER AND THE WORD OF GOD” part 1 from the book, “Necessity of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds.

God’s Word is a record of prayer — of praying men and their achievements, of the Divine warrant of prayer and of the encouragement given to those who pray. No one can read the instances, commands, examples, multiform statements which concern themselves with prayer, without realizing that the cause of God, and the success of His work in this world is committed to prayer; that praying men have been God’s vicegerents on earth; that prayerless men have never been used of Him.

A reverence for God’s holy Name is closely related to a high regard for His Word. This hallowing of God’s Name; the ability to do His will on earth, as it is done in heaven; the establishment and glory of God’s kingdom, are as much involved in prayer, as when Jesus taught men the Universal Prayer. That “men ought always to pray and not to faint,” is as fundamental to God’s cause, today, as when Jesus Christ enshrined that great truth in the immortal settings of the Parable of the Importunate Widow.

As God’s house is called “the house of prayer,” because prayer is the most important of its holy offices; so by the same token, the Bible may be called the Book of Prayer. Prayer is the great theme and content of its message to mankind.

God’s Word is the basis, as it is the directory of the prayer of faith. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom,” says St. Paul, “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

As this word of Christ dwelling in us richly is transmuted and assimilated, it issues in praying. Faith is constructed of the Word and the Spirit, and faith is the body and substance of prayer.

Tracie Miles said, “Choose God, his word, prayer, and spiritual vitamins. As you fight the battle with these tools, you will also be simultaneously choosing your victory.”

Our prayer motivator verse from the Word of God today is Luke 18:1 which says: “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”

Our prayer motivator quote today is from Mark Batterson. He said, “Whether we write lyrics or craft legislation, sell homes or teach classes, design spaces or open franchises, prayer is a critical part of the creative process. Don’t just brainstorm; praystorm.”

Our prayer motivator passage from the Word of God today is Jonah 4:2 which reads: “And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.”

Our featured prayer motivator quote is from C.H. Spurgeon. He said, “I have now concentrated all my prayers into one, and that one prayer is this, that I may die to self, and live wholly to Him.”

My personal encouragement for you today is this: May I lovingly encourage you to pray, pray, pray: pray for yourself, pray for your neighbour, pray for those who are already saved, pray for our governmental officials; pray for souls to be saved. And if, perhaps you are not saved, pray and ask God to save your soul. God loves you more than you love yourself and He wants to save you, so that you can begin your own prayerful relationship with Him. The Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

Our prayer motivator devotional today is titled “PRAYER AND VIGILANCE” part 7 from the book, “Necessity of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds.

When will Christians more thoroughly learn the twofold lesson, that they are called to a great warfare, and that in order to get the victory they must give themselves to unsleeping watchfulness and unceasing prayer?

God’s Church is a militant host. Its warfare is with unseen forces of evil. God’s people compose an army fighting to establish His kingdom in the earth. Their aim is to destroy the sovereignty of Satan, and over its ruins, erect the Kingdom of God, which is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” This militant army is composed of individual soldiers of the Cross, and the armour of God is needed for its defence. Prayer must be added as that which crowns the whole.

“Stand then in His great might, With all His strength endued; But take, to arm you for the fight, The panoply of God.”

Prayer is too simple, too evident a duty, to need definition. Necessity gives being and shape to prayer. Its importance is so absolute, that the Christian soldier’s life, in all the breadth and intensity of it, should be one of prayer. The entire life of a Christian soldier — its being, intention, implication and action — are all dependent on its being a life of prayer. Without prayer — no matter what else he have — the Christian soldier’s life will be feeble, and ineffective, and constitute him an easy prey for his spiritual enemies.

Christian experience will be sapless, and Christian influence will be dry and arid, unless prayer has a high place in the life. Without prayer the Christian graces will wither and die. Without prayer, we may add, preaching is edgeless and a vain thing, and the Gospel loses its wings and its loins. Christ is the lawgiver of prayer, and Paul is His Apostle of prayer. Both declare its primacy and importance, and demonstrate the fact of its indispensability. Their prayer-directions cover all places, include all times, and comprehend all things. How, then, can the Christian soldier hope or dream of victory, unless he be fortified by its power? How can he fail, if in addition to putting on the armour of God he be, at all times and seasons, “watching unto prayer”?

Elizabeth Elliot said, “All our problems are theological ones, William Temple said. All of them have to do with our relationship to God and his to us, and this is precisely why it makes sense to come to God with them.”

Our prayer motivator verse from the Word of God today is Acts 9:11 which reads: “And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth.”

Our prayer motivator quote today is from R.A. Torrey. He said, “God has not changed; and His ear is just as quick to hear the voice of real prayer, and His hand is just as long and strong to save; as it ever was.”

Our prayer motivator passage from the Word of God today is Jonah 4:2 which reads: “And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.”

Our featured prayer motivator quote is from Andrew Murray. He said, “The Master says (and the experience of His people has confirmed) that men of strong faith are men of much prayer.”

My personal encouragement for you today is this: There is great power through prayer to God. And there are great benefits from God in prayer. You will find as you trail through life that you will need God, and prayer invites God to work in, through, and for your life.

Our prayer motivator devotional today is titled “PRAYER AND VIGILANCE” part 6 from the book, “Necessity of Prayer” by E.M. Bounds.

In the New Testament, there are three different words, which are translated “watch.” The first means “absence of sleep,” and implies a wakeful frame of mind, as opposed to listlessness; it is an enjoinder to keep awake, circumspect, attentive, constant, vigilant. The second word means “fully awake,” — a state induced by some rousing effort, which faculty excited to attention and interest, active, cautious, lest through carelessness or indolence, some destructive calamity should suddenly evolve. The third word means “to be calm and collected in spirit,” dispassionate, untouched by slumberous or beclouding influences, a wariness against all pitfalls and beguilements.

All three definitions are used by St. Paul. Two of them are employed in connection with prayer. Watchfulness intensified, is a requisite for prayer. Watchfulness must guard and cover the whole spiritual man, and fit him for prayer. Everything resembling unpreparedness or non-vigilance, is death to prayer.

In Ephesians, Paul gives prominence to the duty of constant watchfulness, “Watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication.” Watch, he says, watch, WATCH! “And what I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.”

Sleepless wakefulness is the price one must pay for victory over his spiritual foes. Rest assured that the devil never falls asleep. He is ever “walking about, seeking whom he may devour.” Just as a shepherd must never be careless and unwatchful lest the wolf devour his sheep, so the Christian soldier must ever have his eyes wide open, implying his possession of a spirit which neither slumbers nor grows careless. The inseparable companions and safeguards of prayer are vigilance, watchfulness, and a mounted guard. In writing to the Colossians Paul brackets these inseparable qualities together: “Continue in prayer,” he enjoins, “and watch in the same, with thanksgiving.”